Barbara Bush, the wife and mother to two former US presidents, died on Tuesday, April 17. Among the tributes and anecdotes about the former First Lady that have followed, is the unusual pen pal she had – Marge Simpson.

The year that Barbara and husband George H.W. Bush entered the White House – 1989 – was the year animated sitcom The Simpsons launched. Swiftly becoming an international pop-culture powerhouse, TV upstart The Simpsons wasn’t a favourite in the Bush household. Barbara Bush told People magazine in 1990 that The Simpsons was “the dumbest thing [she] had ever seen”.

Framed in the production office of The Simpsons since Bush answered Marge in 1990, the brief reply ends with Bush asking Marge to “Please forgive a loose tongue.”

Eternity can not track down any further correspondence between Marge and Barbara, although The Simpsons TV series went on to include prominent references to the first Bush presidency.

But if Marge had needed any tips about offering forgiveness and Barbara wanted some help with a “loose tongue”, the Bible could have brought them together. Insights into a “loose tongue” and how to deal with it can be found in James 3:8, 1 Peter 3:10, Ephesians 4:29, Proverbs 11:9 and 12:18.